Coach Brunt (Carmen Sandiego)
Coach Brunt is a Professor at V.I.L.E. Academy, and one of the five members of the V.I.L.E. Faculty, who doubles as the Academy's instructors, teaching Combat and Self-Defense. While Carmen was growing up on V.I.L.E. Isle, Coach Brunt was the closest thing she had to a mother figure. Her nickname for Carmen was Lambkins, a reference to Carmen's former code name, "Black Sheep." Carmen suspected that Coach Brunt was the one who found her on the side of the road in Argentina. Coach Brunt was strongly in favor of allowing Carmen to enroll in the Academy at a younger age than those usually admitted. Among The Faculty members, Coach Brunt remained Carmen's staunchest protector and advocate until the latter's departure from V.I.L.E. Isle. Appearance Coach Brunt is a large and muscular middle-aged woman. She has short brown hair that has been dyed green. She wears a black, green, and grey tracksuit. Personality Grounded, jovial and direct. Coach Brunt is one of the more upfront members of the V.I.L.E. academy. Never failing to state her mind or poke fun at her fellow instructors when she feels the need for it. She considers the younger agents of the organisation to be family with her being the 'Mama Bear'. This maternal nature however belies the brutal side of her which comes out whenever someone forsakes this ideal. With her becoming unhesitent to step forth and use her formidable strength to beat discipline into them, and going further, killing them if they refuse to return to the fold. History Coach Brunt is one of the five members of V.I.L.E. Academy who contributed to Black Sheep's upbringing. She was one of the four members who supported her admission to V.I.L.E. Academy and defended her from expulsion following the usual waterballoon attack on Cookie Booker. After the incident in Morocco, Brunt guilt tripped Black Sheep into being sorry, hoping it would make her more complacent to V.I.L.E. for her remedial year. Following the harddrive incedent, Brunt checked to make sure that all students were in their bunks and later, along with Professor Maelstrom, discovered Cookie tied up in the closet. After Carmen's departure and escapades, Brunt felt betrayed in a vengeful manner. When Professor Maelstrom was explaining his proposal to steal the Magna Carta, Brunt had no idea what he was talking about. When Shadowsan recommended sending Tigriss to San Francisco to retreve the $10,000,000 stamp from Mime Bomb, Coach Brunt thought Tigriss was a bad idea, so she sent the Cleaners on ahead, just incase. She later bragged about this. Brunt and Shadowsan went to Poitiers, France to confront Chase Devenoux, who they suspected was Carmens partner in crime. They kidnapped him and tried questioning him about Carmen and A.C.M.E.. When he refused to cooperate, they put a brain scrambling helmet on him that would force the truth out of him. When they saw Carmen through the window, Shadowsan ordered her to continue the interogation while he persued. Brunt decided that he was not the boss of her and decided to pursue as well. She lost sight of "ol' Stone Face" but found Carmen. The coach pursued The Crimson Ghost to an allyway, only to discover that it was actually Zack in a Carmen costume. Brunt rushed back to find the real Carmen helping Devenoux. Brunt seals the exit and claims that she doesnt approve of the law abiding company that Lamkins has been keeping. Carmen attempted to beat Brunt and escape with Devenoux, only to be stopped by a violent retailation from the Coach. She offered Carmen a chance to return nicely. After Carmen refused, Brunt attempted to bear hug her to death, officially moving on from caring about her. Before she could squeeze tight enough, shadowsan pinched her nerve to knock her out. By the time she woke up, Carmen and Shadowsan were gone and she called the Cleaners for a pick up. Abilities As one of the five masterminds of V.I.L.E, Coach Brunt has near supreme authority over the organization. She has an abnormal amount of strength, able to lift up a fully grown man off the ground with one hand and crush and bend thick bars of steel with her bare hands. Coach Brunt has an exceptional level of endurance. Carmen trying to shock her with a tazer, she was affected very little. Brunt is highly skilled in physical combat. She teaches self defense at V.I.L.E academy and was able to effortlessly defeat her former student, Carmen Sandiego, despite the latter being younger and in her prime. Comments This character is one of the heads of VILE in the Netflix series; she may or may not be inspired by Eartha Brute, a villain from the “World” game show, as most of VILE’s leading members are reimaginations of characters from past media, such as Maelstrom or the Contessa. Either way, however - original character or cunning reinterpretation - she’s easily my favorite of VILE’S leading members in the show. An enormously strong, flat-faced woman with a heavy Southern accent, Coach Brunt is the physical education and combat instructor for VILE’s Academy of Thieves in the series. What is most interesting about Brunt is her relationship with Carmen: she is essentially Carmen’s mother during her time at VILE, and a self-proclaimed “Mama Bear” type of character. She’s tough and she’s aggressive, but around Carmen, she’s as gentle as a lamb, and constantly supportive and protective of her. This changes however when Carmen betrays VILE and leaves. Brunt feels deeply hurt by her “daughter’s” turncoat nature, and while she’d like nothing more than for Carmen to come back to VILE, she’s also more than willing to get rid of her if the situation calls for it. It’s this love-hate relationship between the two characters, each feeling hurt by the other, but wishing they could go back to the way things were, that makes Carmen’s interactions with Coach Brunt so interesting, especially towards the end of the Netflix show when some key points of Carmen’s past are revealed. With her prodigious strength she can actually be truly scary at times, and certainly an intimidating force to be reckoned with, but that softness and even sense of humor to her keeps her appealing and fascinating. Again, if anything in the Netflix series arguably worked better than classic portrayals of VILE, it was that the villains were much more well-rounded figures than previous versions...which is why it is perhaps odd that Coach Brunt is NOT our number one pick. As much as I love Netflix, the more “classic” Carmen will always be my favorite. Category:2010s Category:Mother Category:Muscular Category:Teacher Category:Unnatural Hair Color Category:Western Animation Villainess